In neo-Piagetian skill theory, the capacity to exert control over action, thought or feeling. Infants act as agents soon after birth as they begin to exert control over simple reflexes and action elements. Although individuals exert control over their actions, controlled action always occurs under coactive control of the social context and the biological medium within which agentic behaviour emerges and is used. This is the process of epigenesis.
See Action, Biogenetic processes, Collective agency, Epigenesis, Inferior parietal lobe (IPL), Neo-Piagetian theories of cognitive development